At Bloomberg View, I use a thought experiment to illustrate how some people can see a tax cut as “skewed to the rich” and others can see it as “fair”–and both can be arguing in good faith.

[The] disagreement might be easier to see by looking at a simple example: a government with two taxpayers. One makes $100,000 and the other $50,000. They live under a progressive tax code: The high earner pays 20 percent, and the low earner 10 percent. The government finds a way to economize, and cuts both bills by 10 percent.
Is this a fair tax cut? Does it make the tax code more progressive, make it less progressive, or leave its progressivity unchanged? . . .